Electric bunch-light



(No Model.) 4 sheets-sheet 11-. J DILLON ELECTRIC BUNCH LIGHT.

' Patented May 2, 1893.

4 SheetsSheet 2.

(No Model.)

J DILLON ELECTRIC BUNCH-LIGHT.

No. 496,474. Patented May 2, 1898.

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(No-Model.

'J.DILLON, ELECTRIC BUNCH LIGHT.

4 Sheetsl-Sheet 3.-

Patented May 2; 1893.

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(No Model.)

J DILLON BLBGTBIG BUNCH LIGHT.

No. 496,474. Patented May 2,1893.

vfl ttes-t: Inventor:

" NITED STATE PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH DILLON, OF LAROHMONT, NEW YORK.

ELECTRIC BUNCH-LIGHT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 496,474, dated May 2, 1893.

Application filed June 22, 1892. Serial No. 437,627. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOSEPH DILLON, of Larchmont, in the county of Westchester and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Bunch- Lights for Theatrical and other Purposes; and I do hereby declare that the following isa full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon, making a part of this specification.

The object of my invention is to produce an improved bunch-light for theatrical and other similar purposes which shall be convenient and easy to handle, and readily adj ustable to vary the power of the light as desired, and by which changes in the color of the light may be produced in a better manner than has been possible heretofore.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of 1 my improved light with the reflector in section and the supporting standard broken ofi. Fig. 2 is a vertical central section of the same. Fig. 3 is a rear elevation with the back turned away to show the connections to the several lamps. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on the line a::t of Fig. 1.

The improved light may be supported in any convenient manner. I have shown the several parts thereof as carried by a suitable standard which is firmly secured to a casting 11. The latter is formed with an car 12 which is pivoted between the two jaws of a clamp 13, so that the light may be swung to any desired inclination and there held by tightening the hand-screw 14:. The clamp is mounted upon the end of a rod 15 which may rotate and slide vertically in a tube 16 and is held in position by the screw 17. The tube 16 may be provided with a suitable base or foot to give stability to the whole structure. To the front side of the standard 10 are fixed the desired number of lamp sockets 18 which may be of any usual or preferred construction and are adapted to receive the lamps 19. The back of the standard 10 may be recessed, as at 20, to receive the wires which are passed through holes and connected properly to the lamp sockets. Over the recess 20 is secured a cover 21 which bears a series of spring contacts 22, the first of which, 22, is connected by a wire 23 to one side of the circuit, while each of the others is connected by a wire 24 to one side of its respective lamp. The other side of each lamp is connected through acommon conductor 25 to the other side of the circuit. I have shown the wires 23 and 25 as connected respectively to the two sides of an ordinary plug 26 with which connection to the circuit may be made conveniently by an ordinary jack 27. A suitable conducting strip or plate 28, having a handle 29 of insulating material, is adapted to slide in ways 30 over the several contacts 22, and,being always in contactwith the contact 22, to complete the circuit between the same and the contacts 22 in succession and so to bring the lamps 19 successively into the circuit. As shown in Fig. 2 a single lamp is in circuit and a movement upward of the strip 28 will bring the lamps into circuit, one after the other, until all are in circuit. A corresponding move; ment of the strip in the opposite direction will in similar manner cutout the lamps one after the other. The power of the light may thus be regulated at will without regard to the character of the current which may. be supplied where the light may happen to be used.

The reflector 31 is of ordiuaryconstruction, but it is supported by arms 32 in front of the standard 10 in such a position that the back of the reflector is flush with the outer ends of the lamp sockets 18 thus leaving the reflecting surface unobstructed by opaque bodies within it. This arrangement also enables me to provide for the application of cut-out devices to the sockets of the lamps, if so desired, while permitting the light to be regulated without obstructing the reflector. The front of the reflector is provided at top and bottom with ways 33, 34 in which the frames 35, supporting the colored translucent sheet or film 36, may slide.

Heretofore colored lights have been produced either by using colored globes for one or more lights or by holding a colored sheet or film in front of a calcium light. The former method requires many lampswith difierently colored globes and the services of two or more operators to effect the desired changes in a proper manner, particularly when it is necessary that one color should change gradually intoanother, while in the practice of the former method the fact that the light comes from practically a single pointcauses the shadows cast by the frames to be distinctly marked, and it often happens that the rays of the light, when focused 011 the gelatine film commonly used, instantly burn a hole through the film. All of these objections are entirely overcome by my improved light for as one frame pushes another in front of the group of lamps the light is so diffused by the several lamps that the shadow of the frame is not apparent and one color changes gradually into the other. Moreover, this improved effect is produced by a single light and by the manipulation of a single operator.

I have shown the several lamps as arranged in multiple but it is evident that if so desired the lamps might be otherwise arranged and that the sliding plate 28 might be made to cut the lamps into series.

I claim as my invention- 1. An electrical bunch-light for theatrical and similar purposes comprising a standard, a plurality of lamps fixed to the front of said standard, aseries of contacts fixed to the back of said standard and connected severally to said lamps, connections to the poles of an electric circuit, and a plate sliding in ways on the back of said standard and adapted to throw said lamps in succession into or out of the circuit, substantially as shown and described.

2. An electrical bunch-light for theatrical and similar purposes comprising a standard, a plurality of lamps fixed to the front of said standard, a series of contacts fixed to the back of said standard, the first of said contacts being connected to one side of a circuit and the others being connected severally to one side of said lamps while on the other side said lamps are connected to the other side of the circuit, and a conducting plate sliding in ways on the back of said standard and adapted to be always in contact with the first of said con tacts and to be moved over the other contacts to bring them successively into the circuit, substantially as shown and described.

3. An electrical bunch-light for theatrical and similar purposes comprising a standard having a recessed back, a plurality of lamps fixed to the front of said standard, a series of contacts supported by a cover over the recess in the back of the standard, a wire from the first contact to one side of a circuit, a Wire from each of the other contacts to one side of the corresponding lamp, and a common connection from the other side of said lamps to the other side of a circuit, all of said wires and connections being covered and protected within said recess, a sliding plate and ways to support and guide the same over said series of contacts, substantially as shown and described.

l. An electrical bunch-light for theatrical and similar purposes, comprising a standard, a plurality of lamps fixed separately to the front of said standard, a reflector supported by arms on the front of said standard with its back flush with the outer ends of the lamp sockets, a series of contacts fixed to the back of said standard and connected severally to said lamps, connections from one of said contacts and said lamps to the poles of an electric circuit, and a conducting plate sliding in ways on the back of said standard over said series of contacts, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH DILLON.

Witnesses:

A. N. JEsBERA, A. VVIDDER. 

